Iran, Egypt Calls for End of Turkish 'Disruptive' Offensive in Syria

Iran has called on Turkey to end its offensive in Syria's Afrin as it may help terrorists in the region, state news agency IRNA reported Sunday.

"Iran hopes that this operation will be ended immediately to prevent a deepening of the crisis in the border regions of Turkey and Syria. A continued crisis in Afrin may boost…terrorist groups in northern Syria," the agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in its turn, issued a statement, saying that the ongoing Turkish military operation was a "disruption" of the political settlement of the Syrian crisis.

"The Arab Republic of Egypt expresses its rejection of the military operation carried out by the Turkish troops against the town of Afrin in northwestern Syria, considering the operation as yet another violation of Syria's sovereignty and the disruption of efforts within the framework of the existing political decisions and efforts on struggle against terrorism in Syria," the statement said.

The ministry said that Cairo strongly opposed the military solution to the Syrian crisis calling for a comprehensive political process.

Earlier today, NTV broadcaster reported that Turkish tanks entered Syrian Afrin, backing the offensive of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) armed opposition group on the positions of Kurdish militia.

The announcement came a day after the Turkish General Staff had declared the launch of the operation dubbed Olive Branch against the Kurdish forces in Afrin. The operation started at 14:00 GMT and over 70 Turkish warplanes conducted airstrikes in seven districts of Afrin, where 108 targets out of 113 were destroyed. The military operation has already been condemned by Damascus with the Syrian Foreign Ministry calling the act a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

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